The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Begonia plant, botanically known as Begonia×hiemalis, commercially known as Elatior Begonia, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Bbdra’.
The new Begonia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Rijsenhout, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new freely branching Begonia cultivars with numerous fully double flowers.
The new Begonia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor during the summer of 2001 of a proprietary selection of Begonia tuberosa identified as code number 7-653, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Begonia socotrana identified as code number 78.65, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Begonia was discovered and selected by the Inventor from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Rijsenhout, The Netherlands during the spring of 2005.
Asexual reproduction of the new Begonia by cuttings in a controlled environment in Rijsenhout, the Netherlands, has shown that the unique features of this new Begonia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.